Denny Hamlin stands as the lone driver with a guaranteed ticket to the Championship 4 at Phoenix following his win at Las Vegas, while the remaining three spots hang in the balance and will be claimed either by race winners at Talladega and Martinsville or through points if no playoff contenders take the checkered flag. That’s why his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell hopes Hamlin can lend a helping hand at Talladega.
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Bell enters the weekend sitting third in points, 20 above the cutline, trailing only Hamlin and Kyle Larson. He’s determined not to let the fate of his season rest on the final race like last year, where he narrowly missed advancing to the Championship 4 after a late-race incident at Martinsville cost him crucial points.
“We would love to have him (Hamlin) be on our side and pushing the 19 (Chase Briscoe) and 20 to try and get locked in. But, from his sake, he really has everything to lose tomorrow, especially at Talladega,” Bell stated, hinting at wanting help from Hamlin.
“Speeds are up; it can be a dangerous race track. So, he’s got everything to lose and nothing to gain. And so, I don’t know how he will race the event, but certainly him pushing us would be greatly appreciated, and we’ll have to see how the strategy works out,” Bell added.
Last season, Bell entered Martinsville in control of the points battle after finishing fourth at Homestead-Miami. With a 29-point cushion over the elimination line—the largest among the remaining playoff drivers—he seemed to have one foot in the Championship 4. But a last-lap penalty for an illegal wall (“Hail Melon”) move shattered that momentum, costing him the berth.
When asked what cushion would make him feel comfortable heading into Martinsville this time, Bell acknowledged that the math on paper doesn’t always tell the full story. He explained that many fans and analysts get misled by the “plus-minus” numbers beside each driver’s name, forgetting that everything hinges on how many new winners emerge.
Bell noted that a single playoff winner could shrink his advantage to just five points over teammate Chase Briscoe, while two playoff winners would flip that margin into a 15-point deficit behind Larson. In that light, he sees Talladega as a make-or-break race in the Round of 8.
If a playoff driver wins, the entire landscape shifts overnight. If not, it gives everyone else a bit of breathing room. Still, Bell expects the field to remain locked in a dogfight until the very end, admitting he doesn’t foresee both Talladega and Martinsville being won by non-playoff drivers.
That leaves narrow margins, and the #20 driver knows the only way to rest easy is to leave Martinsville as the top points earner. Yet the sting of last year’s heartbreak stays as a reminder that even when the driver sits on top of the standings table, one wrong move can send them tumbling down. For Bell, it’s all or nothing until the checkered flag waves.
